


Like a Good Pair of Headphones

by yet_intrepid



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Affectionate Insults, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Tag, Gen, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Torture, Matt Holt has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Matt Holt is a Little Shit, Sibling Love, Sibling Rivalry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 01:34:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12830529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yet_intrepid/pseuds/yet_intrepid
Summary: Hey,” says Matt, “are those my headphones?”Pidge looks up from flying the wacky green lion ship that she apparently flies, and frowns at him. “What?”“My headphones,” Matt repeats, waving them at her. They weren’t in her bag so much as on top of it, so he wasn’t prying. “Come on, Pidge. The limited edition ones I bought? There’s like fifty pair of these in the entire world, so don’t try and tell me this isn’t the one that was already in our house.”





	Like a Good Pair of Headphones

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Agapostemon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agapostemon/gifts).



> Title is from "Headphones" by Walk the Moon:
> 
>  
> 
> _I can take a beating like a good pair of headphones;_  
>  _I can take a hit like karate kid._  
>  _You know, you can learn a lot from a good pair of headphones,_  
>  _Like how to take a beating. I know I did._

“Hey,” says Matt, “are those my headphones?”

Pidge looks up from flying the wacky green lion ship that she apparently flies, and frowns at him. “What?”

“My headphones,” Matt repeats, waving them at her. They weren’t in her bag so much as on top of it, so he wasn’t prying. “Come on, Pidge. The limited edition ones I bought? There’s like fifty pair of these in the entire world, so don’t try and tell me this isn’t the one that was already in our house.”

“Oh,” says Pidge. She turns back to flying. “Yeah, they are. I forgot about that; it was forever ago.”

Matt raises his eyebrows. “So when I died you just like…looted my gear?”

“You don’t seem very dead to me,” Pidge points out. She hits some kind of thing on the console, making the screen do some other kind of thing, and Matt is really too overwhelmed to try and figure out what. In fact, he’s too overwhelmed to do anything but say stupid things, apparently.

“So you looted my gear while I was still kicking,” he says. “Even worse.”

“I didn’t fucking loot your gear,” Pidge growls. “Hey, what happened to nice Matt? What happened to happy-to-see-his-sister Matt? Do I only get three hours of peace before you start arguing about inconsequential shit?”

“I’m still happy to see you,” Matt says, more seriously. “Honest, Katie. I couldn’t be happier. I’m just feeling weird.”

“You’re always feeling weird,” Pidge says, but the tense set of her shoulders relaxes a little.

“That’s…not a lie,” Matt admits. “Anyway. The headphones.”

“Yeah,” says Pidge. “I took them. Cried and shit. Listened to your dumb favorite songs. Fucking Taylor Swift and everything. What about it?”

Okay, Matt admits, he should’ve expected that particular gut-punch. After all, it’s not like if Pidge got lost in space or some shit, he’d be all up in her room doing creepy villain hands about finally getting to play with her hard-earned, hand-built tech. He’d be in there with her tech, sure, but he’d be bawling.

When he was in prison, Matt had always tried not to imagine his sister grieving him. He’d tried to picture her happy. Badass, but safe. Forgetting about him. It had hurt.

This hurts more.

“You voluntarily listened to Taylor Swift,” he says, instead of confessing that, because fuck having emotions.

“Yep,” Pidge says, drily. “All for you, Matty, so be grateful.”

Matt is. He’s grateful. His heart is so full of gratitude that he swears it’ll break open his ribcage any minute now.

“Only if I get my headphones back,” he says.

Pidge turns to look at him again. Squints. “You really want them?”

Matt pauses. Is she serious? “Do you have another pair?”

“Hunk has an extra set of dinky earbuds,” Pidge says. “So…kind of? But yeah, I mean, they’re yours anyway. Half the reason I took them was because…”

She stops.

“Because you wanted to give them back to me,” Matt finishes. Half a question, half a certainty.

“I figured you’d miss them,” Pidge says. She isn’t looking at the dash of her wacky lion ship, but she isn’t looking at him either. “Right? Like, it’s not like you had this kind of cool shit in, you know, in—”

“In prison.” Matt finishes for her again, with a bitter laugh. “Nah, not exactly.”

“Did you?” Pidge asks. She fidgets with her glasses. “Miss things like that, I mean.”

“Sometimes,” Matt admits. He wants to say more, but it’s like his swelling heart has lodged itself up in his throat. He can barely breathe. Because yeah, he got close to some of the rebels he worked with. It’s not like he hasn’t had friends to talk to. But the idea of telling his sister what he’s been through—well. It feels big. Important. Like a conversation that’s not supposed to start with an argument over headphones, even if they are pretty sick limited edition ones.

“And other times?” Pidge says quietly.

“Other times you just forgot there were things to miss.” Matt’s voice is just as quiet. He looks down at the headphones, then looks at his sister, pushing back the tears. Because yeah, she’s a paladin of Voltron and all, but she’s still younger than he is and she shouldn’t have to deal with his bullshit. He’s supposed to be there for her; he’s supposed to bring her cake and fight off her bullies and pester her with stupid nicknames.

He’s not supposed to need her help like this.

“Oh,” says Pidge. She hits some buttons, then leans back and contemplates. “Like I said, you can have the headphones.”

“Feeling sorry for me?” Matt teases.

“I fucking missed you, you stupid fuck!” Pidge yells suddenly. She stands up, bumping against something that causes the ship to wobble. “You were gone for more than a year and I thought you were dead, so fucking _excuse me_ if I want to be a little sappy!”

She breaks off, inhales shakily. Matt steps towards her.

“Katie,” he says. “I’m sorry, okay? I don’t know how to deal with this, so I’m just being my snarky self. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I cried at your grave,” she hisses at him through the tears. “Twice, Matt. Fucking twice.”

“I know,” Matt says. “I’m sorry.”

She stumbles towards him then, bumping against his chest and letting him hold her close. The ship seems to be flying okay on autopilot, so Matt gives in. Closes his eyes, accepts the comfort in the same uneasy but familiar way he used to take beatings at the Galra’s hands.

“I missed you,” Pidge whispers again, and Matt strokes her hair.

“I missed you too,” he says. “I missed you too.”


End file.
